2012 is going to be a year of contrasts – of consolidation of power for the Internet Big Five , and fragmentation and disruption of that power due to both startups as well as government and consumer action. And Happy 2012!

Obama will win the 2012 election, thanks in part to the tech community rallying behind him due to issues like SOPA, visas, and free speech. My next post will summarize all my 2012 predictions, so there’s one neat URL to refer to for future reference. Have a great 2012!

The post With Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist, You Won’t Learn Much. The post With Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist, You Won’t Learn Much. appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog. Guess what? This guy was big this year. Really!

By some Mayan accounts, 2012 is not going to be a good year for any of us. It all adds up to a massive challenge that I think will come to a head in 2012. In short, it will be a massive challenge to manage this business to scale and succcess in 2012. Or GoogleTV (and by some extension, YouTube): Probably the poster child for “not market ready,” GoogleTV now has very high expectations for 2012, thanks to Chairman Schmidt’s recent comments.

I think 2012 is the year we all start to question the role corporations can and should play in our society, and doing so won’t (or shouldn’t) be seen as an indication of some leftist or political agenda, but rather as a reasonable outgrowth of how a thinking person sorts through the solution of some of our most pressing problems. But I’m not arguing it will in 2012. Related: Predictions 2012: #1 – On Twitter and Media. MORE >>

Hence my fifth prediction for 2012: Expect Internet M&A to heat up , big time. Perhaps, but I think it’ll be in play in 2012. Suffice to say, I predict 2012 is going to be a banner year for tech and Internet M&A. Related: Predictions 2012: #1 – On Twitter and Media. Predictions 2012: #2 – Twitter As Free Radical, Swiss Bank, Arms Merchant…And Google Five Years Ago. Predictions 2012 #3: The Facebook Ad Network. MORE >>

And 2012 will be the year this becomes readily apparent. In short: In 2012, every Big Five Internet company will need to have a clear Twitter strategy. It’ll do more with Twitter in 2012, to be sure. In 2012, every Big Five player is going to have to reckon (again) with Twitter. I’m predicting 2012 is the year Google and Facebook come around and work with Twitter in some new, significant way, as will Amazon. MORE >>

Here is Richard’s Trend Map for 2012, once again breaking new ground in communicating trends and ideas. Richard Watson of NowandNext.com and I have collaborated extensively over the years, including on numerous client projects. Richard is very well-known for his Trend Blend annual series of maps ( here are the 2007-2010 trend maps ). I collaborated with Richard on several of them but not on the more recent ones, partly as he is now based in London. MORE >>